Ich Geh' Mit Meiner Laterne
by Zenna95
Summary: A harmless parade, a children's song, and a moment of peace in Edward Elric's life. Drabble-fluff, no pairing, T for Ed's mouth.


Startled out of his thoughts by the sudden squeak of the window opening, Edward Elric turned around to face his flatmate. A gust of cold wind blew in, tossing the boys' hair about.

"The hell are you doing, Alfons? You'll freeze us to death!" The other blond turned, leaning on the windowsill and laughing quietly. The first stars glimmered over his shoulders.

"Waiting for the parade, silly!" The clap of shutters across the road indicated others doing the same as Heiderich had, though for what purpose the older blond had no idea.

"Parade? What for?" Blue eyes stared into gold as if Ed was an idiot.

"It's November eleventh, Edward. Sankt Martinstag." Still no recognition sparked in the elder's eyes, and Alfons sighed.

"You know who Saint Martin was, right?" As the golden-haired teen shook his head, Heiderich sighed again, "Basically, Martin was a Roman soldier who chopped his cloak in half to keep a beggar from dying of cold in a snowstorm. He later became a priest, and was canonized after his death. It's a big feast day, and the kids have a parade." He turned back to the window, grinning as music became audible in the distance. The younger man's lips moved, forming inaudible words that soon matched with those floating in with the chilled November air.

,,Ra-bimmel, ra-bammel, ra-bumm.*" The words held no meaning that the Elric knew of, but the smile on his little brother's double's face was like a mug of the drink they called 'hot chocolate' here and 'firewater' back home in the cold.

,,Ich geh' mit meiner Laterne, und meine Laterne mit mir. Dort oben leuchte die Sterne, hier unten, da leuchten wir." Alfons was still young enough to sing in a quivering soprano, voice floating out to join the childrens' chorus as the bobbing lights of lanterns became visible at the end of the street. Ed joined his housemate at the window, making sure to keep enough distance between them (damn, what was with these Germans and personal space? Or maybe it was just Heiderich) while being able to stick his head outside as well. Parades were always big events, and hell, what harm could it do to watch?

,,Der Martinsmann, der zieht voran, ra-bimmel, ra-bammel, ra-bumm." As he repeated the line, Edward noticed the glow that rarely shone in those blue eyes, save when talking about rocketry. Though he stumbled over the odd words, the older blond joined in for the last phrase of the verse and the first few lines of the next. Completely guessing at the meaning of half the words, Ed continued singing along, half second behind the group as he tried to grasp the pronunciation. The warm feeling from earlier settled around his heart, and the teen no longer wondered what made his friend's eyes light up so. There was a certain joy to be found in innocence, in being part of a group that had nothing to do with responsibilities or dangers.

,,Ein Lichtenmeer zu Martins Ehr, ra-bimmel, ra-bammel, ra-bumm."

Soon enough the music faded, though Heiderich kept singing under his breath to the end of the verse. ,,Mein Licht is aus, ich geh' nach Haus, ra-bimmel, ra-bammel, ra-bumm."

_Ich geh' mit meiner Laterne, und meine Laterne mit mir._

_Dort oben leuchten die Sterne; hier oben, da leuchten wir!_

_---_

_A/Ns: Yeah, a fluff-drabble. I wrote it. Just had to show a bit of Heiderich's gentler side, the side that we didn't really get to see in CoS. And celebrate Sankt Martinstag! _

_*Ra-bimmel, ra-bammel, ra-bumm has no real translation. It's just a space-filler used in the song to keep the tempo. Sort of like saying 'la-ti-da' in an English song._

_Translations: _

_Sankt Martinstag- Saint Martin's Day_

_Ich geh' mit meiner Laterne, und meine Laterne mit mir. Dort oben leuchte die Sterne; hier unten, da leuchten wir.- I go with my lantern, and my lantern with me. Up above, the stars are shining; down here, we are shining._

_Der Martinsmann, der zieht voran- St. Martin, he marches on_

_Ein Lichtenmeer zu Martins Ehr- A sea of light in honor of Martin_

_Mein Licht is aus, ich geh' nach Haus- My light is out, I go home_


End file.
